Today we’d like to introduce you to Leo Gregoire.
Leo, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
2015 gave way to the last of my twenties as I found myself at a crossroads in life. I wasn’t really stoked on where I was and what I was doing. I left the city and moved home… What was initially a fall from grace turned into a rebirth of sorts? I spent more time with my family, in particular, my grandfather. I became enamored with the furniture he made my parents throughout the time that surrounded my youth. Everything clicked.
In 2016 I began working with my grandfather out of his basement, building my first pieces of furniture. I had found a way to combine my talents and monetize them. That same year my father and I built our own shop. Not only is my grandfather an exceptional furniture maker and woodworking mentor but he has an overall perspective on life that you don’t see often anymore. He inspires me daily and the Hollander name is a homage to him and his life in Holland, in many ways.
As I started building furniture, woodworking quickly began consuming most of my time… It was the first time in my life that I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. My passion for craft and creation; for the substantive and meaningful had to lead me to woodworking. I’ve had a handful of clients since I began taking commission work and have been fortunate to be busy. I look forward with optimism as I work toward making Hollander my full-time gig.
Has it been a smooth road?
I feel like my perspective may be a bit biased in that I see most everything I’ve been through on this journey through rose-colored glasses. When you’re not only having fun but learning along the way, I find it hard to not to consider things on the up and up. Of course, there have been setbacks but I’ve put a lot of effort into making sure I view them as opportunities for growth (as cliché as that sounds) while making a point to learn from my mistakes…
Of which I make many. I’m learning a lot about temperance, patience, and discipline as my goals shift toward more long-term thinking and away from impulse and immediate gratification. The mental aspect of putting yourself in the shoes of a beginner and learning something from scratch has been the biggest challenge I’d say. I feel as though I’m doing well with it but it’s easy to doubt yourself from time to time when you’re in such a vulnerable place.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Hollander Woodworks makes custom designed furniture with pride and integrity. My grandfather built me my first bed as a child. I still have that bed today. That is truly remarkable to me and is something that inspires me when making furniture. In a world where the Walmart’s and IKEA’s mass produce the tawdry ephemeral for the sake of consumption, Hollander offers an ethos of genuine quality that will last decades. This is woodcraft in a world of mass production.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I’m a bit removed from the city these days so I wouldn’t offer much of an opinion to someone just starting out there but overall I think there has been a great resurgence in craftwork across the globe. With the technology we have at our disposal, anyone with a smartphone can build a business that can reach millions of people at any given time. That being said, I’d recommend leveraging that technology to do a bit of research to see what I could learn about my industry in the area. Finding your ideal clients and demographic is paramount and while I haven’t been to Boston in a while, I find it hard to believe there isn’t a market for just about everything.
Contact Info:
- Address: Holland, Massachusetts 01521
- Phone: 413 544 5788
- Email: hollanderbuilds@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hollander_woodworks/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/hollndr
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